I am a Senior Political Contributor at Forbes and the official 'token lefty,' as the title of the page suggests. However, writing from the 'left of center' should not be confused with writing for the left as I often annoy progressives just as much as I upset conservative thinkers. In addition to the pages of Forbes.com, you can find me every Saturday morning on your TV arguing with my more conservative colleagues on "Forbes on Fox" on the Fox News Network and at various other times during the week serving as a liberal talking head on other Fox News and Fox Business Network shows. I also serve as a Democratic strategist with Mercury Public Affairs.

Given the recent trifecta of what has,to date, added up to mostly false but politically effective allegations of scandal involving Benghazi, the IRS and the Department of Justice, transparency within the walls of the Obama White House has very much come into question.

But when it comes to the GOP leadership in Congress, there can be no such question of transparency as their behavior could not be any more open or obvious.

Indeed, the Congressional Republicans have been crystal clear in revealing that they could not care less about getting to the real truth of any of the upsetting issues now before the American public, just as they have no interest in focusing on these events for the purpose of making government better for the American people. Their concern is clearly, openly and unabashedly focused on the political opportunities they perceive to be available to them now that they’ve been able to successfully focus the public’s attention on these alleged scandals and away from critical issues of substance.

The problem is that the all too transparent political goals of these people have the unfortunate byproduct of shining a light on the stunning degree of hypocrisy being practiced by these so called leaders. Should you require quantifiable proof of this, I offer up Speaker John Boehner’s comments of this morning as Exhibit A.

While speaking to the press about the IRS matter, Mr. Boehner bellowed, “My question isn’t about who is going to resign. My question is whose going to jail over this scandal?” The Speaker then bounded from the stage leaving his words to hang in the air.

Ah…the drama….the intrigue…the utter and complete disregard for the American justice system spat from the lips of the most powerful man in the United States Congress.

While the Speaker demands to know who is going to jail over the IRS fiasco, the rest of us are, apparently, falling behind as we are still trying to find out what—if any—criminal laws have been violated. You see, Mr. Speaker, in this country one is supposedly required to be convicted of actually violating a criminal law before prison time is to be handed out as punishment—even when this rather fundamental rule of law proves to be an inconvenient impediment to your fundraising activities.

If Boehner has the answer to the somewhat relevant question of whether or not the behavior at the IRS jumped the line between really bad judgment and highly inappropriate behavior into the sphere of criminality, he elected not to share the specifics with us during this morning’s press conference. That was an unfortunate choice as the federal government is about to spend a whole bunch of taxpayer money to ascertain if there was any actionable criminal activity.

If Speaker Boehner has already conducted the investigation and concluded that somebody (we don’t know who) needs to get put in prison, he might consider sharing his findings with the FBI. And if Mr. Boehner has not conducted such an investigation, maybe he could see the benefit of at least pretending to honor the American justice system and keep his lust for incarceration to himself until we know if there is actually a crime.

Most of us will agree that there was clearly wrongdoing in the ranks of the IRS in how they improperly targeted applicants seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. For anyone who may be struggling to accept this, I would suggest reading the Inspector General’s report of what occurred which is now available for your full review.

While the IG account points to serious managerial errors and confused employees over at the IRS, nowhere in the report do we find any allegation of criminal behavior —just as we see that the IG could find no evidence that anyone from outside the agency (translation: the White House) was involved.

This is not to say that there was no criminal behavior.

It is to say that, at this point, while the Inspector General was able to uncover the instances of improper behavior that clearly reveals a serious problem, no criminal activity has yet to be alleged.

Still, given the gravity of the infractions, the Attorney General has ordered the FBI to investigate the Internal Revenue Service to determine whether there was, in fact, a criminal violation of the law. But as this investigation has likely not yet even begun (it was just announced this morning), one struggles to work out how Speaker Boehner has managed to conclude that someone needs to go to jail.

I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that Boehner has no real grasp of one of the most fundamental principles of American law—that would be the one that requires that those suspected of criminal activity must be charged with a specific violation, tried and proven guilty before we begin clamoring for jail time.

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Thank you Mr. Unger. Very informative, true and relevant. Those poor people that work for the IRS must feel terrorized that Speaker Boehner is going to round everybody up and put them in internment camps or jail. I shudder to think what the terrorized government workers think might happen to them as they go to work. I’m sure a lot of government workers are not going to work because they don’t won’t their children to be left homeless if Boehner just decides to send them to jail for whatever reason he thinks people should go to jail for. This is all very terrifying and third world country like. What happened to the United States and the rule of law?

FYI, FDR, a liberal in every sense of the word, was the ONLY President to place Americans in internment camps. Pres. Obama has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous presidents…combined. Just keeping it real. Any questions?

With this article, Mr. Ungar proves that he’s incapable of independent thought and discourse. While his article clearly states that there’s no “evidence” of a crime, he resorts to ad hominem attacks against Speaker Boehner in order to make his point? How very liberal of him. Just from what has already been released by the media on this case, it appears that the IRS has, indeed, exacted their will on right-wing groups while giving a quick pass to left wing 501′s. Rick publishes this article this morning and tonight, BO attempts to “put out the fire” by asking the head of the IRS to step down, (even though he was slated to leave in less then a month anyway). The evidence is mounting…but there’s already enough evidence, (contrary to what Ungar wants low-information readers to believe), to indicate that a criminal investigation needs to continue to determine WHO should go to jail…not if there’s enough evidence to convict.

Is Mr. Ungar ignorant, afraid of being audited by the very same IRS that he writes to protect, or is he just a liberal shill?

…to name but a few. Even Holder knows these statutes, and mentioned the possibility of a criminal investigation, (yeah, right), in his testimony. You could’ve looked these up yourself, but perhaps your proclamation of low-information impediment blocks your research?

Now THAT would be grounds for impeachment…wouldn’t it? Well…I have no doubt that this would be extremely hard to prove, given the number of layers of minions underneath Holder and Obama that are positioned to take the fall. But don’t you find it interesting that Holder never placed his recusal on record in writing? I do. BTW…where’s Ungar…hiding under his desk?

26 U.S. Code § 7214 has nothing to do with the above topic – deals with revenue agents allowing themselves or other to defraud the US 18 U.S. Code § 241 – deals specifically with civil rights as opposed to tax law 18 U.S. Code § 1001 – deals with statements, specifically false statements & concealments – since the IRS discovered what was going on and publicly acknowledged it, the statute doesn’t apply And finally … 26 U.S. Code § 7217 – deals with the Executive branch coercing the IRS into investigating a person/entity – since the IRS did this internally, there was no coercion. So you’re 0 for 4 on statutes, come back again when you have some thata actually apply.

Franz-so tell me…when did they begin to imprison people for violating civil statutes? You assume that the POTUS, or anyone on his staff did not direct the IRS to conduct such atrocities when you wrote: “since the IRS did this internally”. Really? At this point, we simply don’t know…”we”, the operative word, which includes you. Ungar’s article header indicates there’s no evidence of a crime. I simply pointed out that Ungar’s a desperate shill in this high stakes game of ‘gotcha’. Even the left leaning Yahoo News has it right when they reported: “Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., asked Holder at the hearing whether an “apology” from the IRS protected them from criminal prosecution. Holder answered, “No.”

Curious…in your attempt to prove yourself superior, all you have done is undermine your initial argument and highlight the hazards of copy / pasting from conservative blogs.

And I have to say that I am amused that you would criticize Franz for assuming innocence when only a short time before you had assumed guilt. Truly ‘murican of you.

Now again I find myself wondering… in your mind, what makes Mr. Ungar a “desperate shill”? If you recall, he has in no way defended the IRSs actions. All he has done is call Boehners (and others) hate-mongering for what it is: A political scam to demonize the our current Administration and attempt to solidify Tea Party support.

Josh-reading comprehension not your forte? What I wrote, was that it would be VERY difficult to tie Obama to a 7217 crime. But a crime was committed. And the claims of injustice perpetrated on not only Tea Party groups, but ANYONE with a megaphone that ridiculed our President, has been present for several YEARS. Oh yes…they knew. This is NOT about whether a crime was committed, but by whom.

And yet you write that this is a political scam, pointing your grubby fingers at the right, when it is obvious that this was about intimidation and voter suppression by Chicago BO towards the conservative movement.

And yes…Ungar, with one sentence, attempts to “cover himself” from blatant partisanship. You didn’t even do that.

Josh-how did I utilize ad hominem attacks against you…I just asked a simple question, and then reminded you of what I meant, by rewriting the passage. Ungar’s ad hominem attacks against Boehner are FAR more serious than my questioning your skills in reading comprehension, (which, btw, is part of the SAT tests you took in high school…remember?).

Ungar also compares Boehners’ statement to Nazi Germany’s POW camps in his title for the article. A little over the top? No…it’s even beyond that, and bespeaks a much more dangerous, albeit, ignorant view of the seriousness of this topic. Even Holder suggested that the FBI should investigate, (not holding my breath), which is an action reserved for serious crimes. He also stated that the IRS issuing an apology does not protect them from criminal charges.

A crime was most certainly committed. But that’s fairly common with this administration, as they have a 4 year history of it. Perhaps, as Jeremiah “GD America” Wright stated, their chickens are coming home to roost. In the meantime…my eyes are still focused on Benghazi…I still believe that’s the impeachable crime, and MUCH easier to prove.

Had Boehner been available, the Hindenburg would still be crossing the skies. We have a better method for keeping things aloft, “hot Boehner Breath”, Best for balloons and buffoons. I still doubt that anything worse than reassignment will happen.

While we have a long tradition of requiring a trial and conviction before prison time, I’d like to know the charge and conviction date for Mohamedou Ould Slahi. He has been a prisoner at Gitmo for 11 years now. He has never been charged with any crime, let alone convicted of anything. You can read his story here: http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_published_for_the_first_time.html

As they say on Ferris Bueller, “Any one? Any one?” What are his charges? When was he convicted and sentenced?

Perhaps Speaker Boehner can be forgiven his believe we’ve dispensed with such niceties as trial and conviction given the last TWO administrations have decided to imprison several hundred men with out such things as charges or trials. At this time, well over 100 men who have been completely cleared of all charges and are able to be released, yet the continue to languish in a harsh prison without the amenities provide even prisoners of war, let alone prisoners in other Federal prisons.

Perhaps we should worry less about hyperbolic political rhetoric and focus on the actual reality of people imprisoned without charge or trial.

It seems to me you’re using your platform to go after Boehner, and that’s fine. It’s a free country and I respect your opinion. I wonder, however, what your response would have been if those IRS employees had used the keywords “Forbes contributor.” And by the way, at this point, we don’t know that they didn’t….

It would not have varied the article one iota. I am well on record-both in writing, on television and radio, for criticizing what the IRS did. They were clearly wrong as they have admitted. While I may not be a “Tea Party” fan, no group should be targeted simply because their politics are in opposition to the party in power. I am also on record as saying that all 501(c)(4) applicants should have to undergo the same rigorous examination as what these groups were subjected to because most of them are abusing their tax-exempt status-and that includes groups whose political positions I might favor. However, this article ia about calling for someone to go to jail when there is not yet any evidence whatsoever of a crime having been committed. Maybe there has been such a crime-we’ll see when the DOJ investigation is completed. But until then, we only have evidence of misconduct and some very bad judgement, not of which are criminal-only stupid and wrong. Our Constitution and judicial system just doesn’t work that way-and thank goodness for it. Boehner’s behavior was just plain wrong. Period. And I’d say the same exact thing if I had been targeted by the IRS in the same way and some Democrat called for someone to be jailed before there has been any allegation of a criminal charge.

And I’m sure you were satisfied with BO’s answer to the question posed to him yesterday about any prior knowledge of the IRS scandal. No…he answered that he wasn’t aware of the IG report. Are you freaking kidding me? Satisfied, Rick? Or are you going to gloss over that point like the rest of the media that suffer from recto-cranial inversion?

Is this the same Max Baucus that, along with Chuckie Schumer and several other Dems, demanded that the IRS investigate the Tea Party groups’ tax status? Interesting that he is now coming full circle, but only after he decided to step down. Kind of like Bart Stupak and Evan Bayh?